Swish and Flick

MONEY

Ron looked at Harry as his best friend explained muggle money to him (once again). While it would be easier to shop for jewelry in Diagon Alley, the last time once of the Golden Trio—as they had been dubbed—had tried such an action, there were rumors about Harry that made Flobberworms seem like the geniuses of the magical world. And that was just because Harry had bought Teddy a silver chain!

"Bloody hell, Harry," he moaned as he dropped his face into his hands. "Why can't the damn muggles accept gold?"

The thought made Harry pause. "Actually… now that I think about it, certain jewelry shops do accept gold. They melt it down and make more stuff with it. Maybe you could ask the goblins at the bank to convert a few galleons into gold muggle coins. Maybe they'll take it as collateral," he informed his friend.

The ginger looked up at his friend with an frustrated huff. Why oh why did God hate him so?

"Or you could just use my credit card and pay me back later," Harry added with a grin.

"What the fuck is a credit card?" Ron demanded.

"Piece of plastic a store's clerk can swipe and the money's taken directly from the bank."

"You bloody bastard! You could have said that last week when I asked you for help in the first place!" Ron snapped at Harry. The prick may have been the Chosen One but to make him suffer over this was an act worthy of Voldemort. Or Bellatrix or some other nut case like Umbridge.

"I couldn't resist," Harry explained as he handed Ron a small plastic rectangle. "You're hilarious when you're like this."

"Git."

ENGRAVED

Ron looked through the glass cases at the different merchandise inside. How was he supposed to pick something from all the options? There were bulky square diamonds set in gold that screamed money and wealth. Then there were the pieces that had clusters of diamonds mixed with some colored stone in various shapes. Those only looked appealing if the light hit them just right. Then there were the overly simple designs that screamed cheap. How was a person supposed to pick something that didn't fit the receiver?

"Looking for something specific?" asked a female voice and he looked up to see a very pregnant clerk behind the glass. A quick glance at her left hand revealed someone had obviously made the right choice with her.

"Err… yeah," he admitted and ran his hand through his red hair. "I guess I'm kind of looking for something simple but… more. I mean, Hermione wouldn't like this big stuff but your simple rings are downright stupid."

The clerk giggled at him and he frowned. Was he looking for the wrong thing? Would Hermione actually want one of those rings that looked bigger than Crabbe and Goyle put together?

"I think I have something. It's a bit pricey since it's in platinum but I think you'll like it. It has some Celtic scrollwork that surround the gemstone," she informed him and turned to dig in one of the drawers behind her. She pulled out a little bag and laid the ring on the glass for him to examine.

He studied the traditional three-ringed knot on either side of the blue-tinted stone. The design of the band did fit Hermione style. It was simple yet elegant. The cut of the stone fit the ring well too. It wasn't a circle or a square but rather—if you turned it sideways—it looked like an eye.

"What stone is this?" he asked the muggle woman.

"Aquamarine," she informed him. "It's a bit untraditional for an engagement ring I'll admit but the slight coloring of it makes it look better to me. We can put in a diamond though if you wish."

Ron considered it a moment before smiling. "I'll take it as it is."

The clerk beamed at him and gathered up the ring and placed it in a box to ring up. "Alrighty then!" she replied in a sing-song tone. "One lucky Hermione coming right up! Would you like to have something engraved on the inside?"

"No tha…" Ron paused as a memory surfaced in his mind. With a grin he looked up at the clerk once more. "Actually, I would."

CHARMS

Hermione shuffled the papers in her folder as she walked down the hall towards her office. She looked up at her secretary, a young woman who'd come to grow on her once she realized it would be impossible to organize everything herself and do her job at the same time. "Elle, what's tomorrow's schedule?" she asked as she charmed the folder to take its place in the filing cabinet.

"Nothing. I cancelled everything when Auror Weasley asked me too," she replied with a smile.

That gave Hermione a pause? Ron had cancelled everything? "What?" she demanded.

"Auror Weasley came around earlier and said you would be sending an owl that you were sick tomorrow and I should cancel everything," she replied in a cheery voice. It was as if she thought this was normal! The only days Hermione had ever taken off were for important events and she could count those on one hand.

"Ronald!" she huffed and stomped into her office and slammed the door. She started making her way towards the fire place, intending to Floo to Ron's office and demanded to know why he was interfering with her work, when she noticed her desk.

There was a rather thick book lying flat in the center of her desk. Why this wasn't usually something to make her pause but this book had a large bow made of white silk ribbon. From here, she could see there was another ribbon marking a certain page.

She walked to her desk and slipped the ribbon off only to see it was slightly battered copy of her first year charms book. Why would this be here?

Hermione opened the cover to flip to the marked page to see the chapter was marked Levitation. Then she glanced down and gasped. In the center of the book, someone had cut a deep square where the text had been all the way to the last page. But it was what lay inside that made her gasp. There was a ring rest in the middle of the square.

She picked it up with trembling fingers as she studied it before making a special discovery. "Swish and Flick," she read from the inside of the band, making her smile.

There was a slight rustle of cloth and then thick arms wrapped around her waist. She leaned back into Ron as he placed a chaste kiss on her neck. "Marry me Hermione," he whispered to her.

A wide smile spread across her lips as she turned in Ron's arms. Harry's invisibility cloak lay forgotten on the floor behind them. She slipped the ring onto her left hand looked up into Ron's blue eyes.

"Yes."